PEDC board accepts resignation of Mary Jane Stanley

The Pasco Economic Development Council called an emergency session Tuesday morning to discuss the resignation of its longtime chief executive.

The board, chaired by Stewart Gibbons of Terrabrook, voted to accept the resignation of Mary Jane Stanley.

“Mary Jane has been instrumental in the growth and success of the PEDC over the past 10 years,” Gibbons said in a statement. “We are proud of the way the organization is positioned for the future, and we wish Mary Jane well.”

The St. Petersburg Times reported earlier Tuesday that Pasco elected officials were upset with Stanley for published remarks about problems with the county’s building permitting process.

But Stanley’s remarks shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Pasco has struggled with its “anti-development” image for years.

In April 2008, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported an Urban Land Institute study found relations were strained between the development community and Pasco officials.

One ULI board member said that “developers felt the county was very unpredictable and uneven in its development review process, that the county had no clear standards that needed to be met, that the staff was untrained and that decisions were made based upon political lobbying primarily in the development review committee process.”

On Tuesday, the PEDC, a nonprofit agency, named John Walsh its interim president while it searches for a permanent replacement.

The county, long known as a bedroom community to Tampa and Pinellas County, is working to change its image and diversify its economy.

The agency’s “strategic initiatives will guide us to new opportunities for improving Pasco’s business climate for the attraction and expansion of high value jobs,” Gibbons said. “Business leadership is our most valuable asset.”